When I Come Home
by shaketramp
Summary: Harry, I love you with all of my heart. But you know that I'll be okay without you. I'll never stop missing you. But I will be okay.


When I Come Home  
  
Harry/Ginny  
  
By Chelsea  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley belong to J.K. Rowling, and not me. Ok?  
  
WARNING: Order of the Phoenix Spoilers ahead.  
  
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Ginny Weasley watched emotionlessly as they lowered his lifeless body into the cold, hard, ground. It wasn't fair. Harry had his whole life ahead of him, and it was destroyed by one evil man. One evil man whose live was dedicated to killing innocent people. Innocent people who actually had a motive for their lives, unlike that one man, who so brutally killed the innocent teenager who had everything ahead of him.  
  
Unfortunately, Ginny kept flashing back to that one dreadful night when Harry had gone for a walk in the grounds, and somehow ended up in the Forbidden Forest. Despite all of his friend's warnings to stay in the castle because they knew that Voldemort was out looking for Harry to kill him, and to destroy him, Harry had felt that he needed to get out. Ginny had offered to come with him, but Harry had said that he needed time to sort out his feelings. Reluctantly, the red-headed girl had stayed behind. As he walked out of the door, he called out a casual "Love ya, 'Gin!".  
  
But about five minutes after Harry had left, Ginny felt a sense of urgency and a sense of danger, something drawing her to follow him. Heart pounding, she had raced out into the grounds, frantically calling the name of her beloved. She then ran down the path leading to Hagrid's Hut and the Forest. There she had found the once vibrant young man, laying lifelessly on the damp ground.  
  
Just thinking about that fatal night made tears roll down her cheeks, and make her feel as if her heart was going to explode. Ginny missed Harry so incredibly much. Sitting on the church bench wedged between her older brother and her best friend, who were also crying uncontrollably, she was reminded of a couple of weeks earlier when the four of them, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry were all sitting in a row on the couch talking about the serious things in life. Like death.  
  
All of a sudden, something clicked. Had Harry knew that he was going to die?! Ginny realized, that in the last two weeks, Harry had been doing a lot of things that he wouldn't have normally done, and a he was saying a lot of things that he usually wouldn't have said. For instance, Harry normally didn't tell Ginny that he loved her when he left the room, or to go for a walk. He would say "See you later," or something to that effect. Ginny smiled slightly. She knew that Harry sometimes saw through Voldemort's eyes, and it was just like him to not want to worry anyone. It put her heart at ease to know that at least, Harry had knew what was coming to him.   
  
Standing by the coffin, was Harry. Harry, in spirit form. Of course, nobody saw him. He had long since figured that out. But sometimes he wished that he could have become a ghost for that one day, and not just a mere formless spirit, because then he could have interacted with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. It was just killing him to see his two best friends and (as far as he was concerned) soul mate going through that much pain and sorrow over him. He wished that he could communicate with them in some way, because Harry could only stay for as long as he felt was necessary, to adjust to the spirit world.   
  
  
  
Looking at his best friends in the whole wide world, Harry felt so much guilt that he was putting them all through this. Ron was sitting there, face emotionless. Harry knew better, because Ron always hid his emotions. Sometimes Harry swore that he saw a tear pass through the bottom of his eyelid.  
  
  
  
Hermione was sobbing uncontrollably. Harry felt his heart ache. He loved Hermione as a sister, and he just wanted to go over there and comfort her with a big hug. Hermione always loved hugs. It made him feel worse because he knew that Hermione was crying over him, when he was right in front of her. Oh, how he wished that they could see him, that he could communicate with them.  
  
Then there was Ginny. Harry loved Ginny with all his heart. When he first saw her on his first day at Kings Cross, he felt a kind of surge go through him. Even though he was only eleven, he knew that nobody else made him feel that way. This wasn't fair. They were supposed to spend their lives together, to start a family together. Although Ginny was only in her fifth year and Harry in his sixth, they knew that they belonged together. They had even talked about getting married once they were both out of Hogwarts. Ginny was his sunshine on a cloudy day, and his water when he's dying of thirst. When he looked into her eyes, he felt as if he was lost and would never get out. His arms fit around her tiny waist like a jigsaw puzzle, and when they were in each other's arms, they had all they would ever need.  
  
They had a kind of connection. Like, Harry knew when Ginny was in danger, and when she was sad, and when she was happy.   
  
Ginny stared at the coffin. She knew that in there, lay the lifeless body of her beloved Harry. Key-word: body. She knew that that was just a shell, and that his soul was somewhere else. Somewhere where it was safe from this horror filled world. For a second, Ginny thought she saw Harry standing right by the coffin!!! But, no. It couldn't be possible. She knew that Harry was dead, and he wouldn't be here of all places. He was probably running around in heaven, catching up with his parents, Sirius, and Cedric Diggory.  
  
Harry stood there, blankly listening to the minister droning on and on about him. The words were empty, as the minister knew nothing about him, didn't know him at all. He was merely saying what was told of him by Harry's loved ones. He glanced over to Ginny, to see how she was taking it. These words couldn't mean anything to her, he knew that Ginny--  
  
WHAT?! She was looking right at him, a look of complete happiness on her face. No way. She couldn't see him, could she? But, as soon as the smile appeared, it disappeared. She frowned slightly and tilted her head towards the side, staring at the spot where Harry was standing. Dejectedly, she looked down at her feet, blotting her eyes. Did she think that Harry was only an illusion, a hallucination result of her grief?   
  
If Ginny could see him, than maybe he could communicate with Ron, Hermione, or Ginny before the day was done. He walked slowly to Ginny, and sat down in the empty spot to the left of her. Hopefully, he placed his hand on her leg, thinking that maybe she would feel his presence. A look of hopefulness on her face, she looked over to her left. When she saw nothing, she looked away, frowning thoughtfully. Harry gasped. She could feel his presence!  
  
Ginny could have sworn that Harry was sitting next to her. She felt his presence. Nobody else had the effect that Harry did on her. Whenever he was near, she could tell. It was as if they were two parts of a whole body and whenever the other wasn't near, there was a kind of empty space. When he was near, she was whole again. Right now, there was definitely no empty space! She felt whole, as she did only when Harry was near. All of a sudden, Ginny saw a vision of Nearly Headless Nick.   
  
  
  
Of course! Ghosts did exist, she had proof of that. But she had always thought that somebody only became a ghost when they had died feeling extreme emotions, for instance, extremely angry, extremely happy, or extremely sad. Anyways, that was what Nick had told her once. But . . .  
  
Harry wasn't a ghost. If he was, he would have shown himself by now. But, Ginny knew his spirit was floating around the place. And right now, he was right next to her. She smiled lovingly, and whispered a small message to her dearest.  
  
"I know you're here, Harry. I miss you and I love you," she said, looking at the spot next to her.   
  
Harry was trying to think of ways to get a message to them, when he heard a tiny voice whisper next to him. Frowning, he strained his ears and caught the end of the message.   
  
". . .I love you."  
  
Well, that was enough for him to know. Ginny knew he was there, and that what was mattered. Undoubtedly, she would tell Ron and Hermione that he had been there. They would all feel a sense of peace, knowing that Harry was resting in peace. He wrapped his arms around her lovingly, and whispered something in her ear.  
  
"I love you too."  
  
All of a sudden, Ginny felt a shiver go down her spine. She just heard the voice of Harry in her head, and felt a loving warmness, something you only got from a big hug. She was in the arms of Harry, she just knew it. Although she couldn't see it, she could definitely feel it. It felt like old times. Harry whispering in her ear, all the while hugging her tenderly.   
  
Later that night, while Ginny was laying in her bed, she was thinking about that day's events. After the funeral, the Weasley's had hosted a remembrance at their house. For the rest of the day, the hole never reappeared. That meant that Harry was with her for the whole of the day. She felt a sense of comfort knowing that.   
  
Ginny realized something. She knew why she could hear him. As was mentioned earlier, they had a special connection. She had subtly asked her older brother Ron and best friend Hermione if they had heard or felt anything weird. Neither of them did, and she didn't want to press the subject, considering they were both going through an extreme amount of grief over losing their best friend.  
  
She loved Harry with all of her heart, and knowing that his spirit was with her the whole day comforted her immensely. She didn't dare to hope that he would be there tomorrow, so she didn't want to go to sleep. Ginny didn't want to lose him again, seeing as the second time around would be worse.  
  
"Harry, I love you and I know that you don't want to stay here all the time with me."  
  
But I do! he protested mentally.   
  
"I know you want to catch up with your parents. Not to mention Sirius, and Cedric. There's no reason to stay here with me. You know you'll see me when I come home, which wouldn't be that long to you," she protested, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was killing her to say this, because she really did want him to stay there with her, for the rest of her life. But she knew that Harry needed to get on. She dropped her voice to a whisper.  
  
"Harry, I love you with all of my heart. But you know that I'll be okay without you. I'll never stop missing you. But I will be okay. Okay?"  
  
Harry knew she was right. He couldn't stay here with her. And, they would be together again someday. He bit his lip, listening to the rest of her message.  
  
"Wait for me. Wait for me to come home. I'll be expecting you to be standing there, arms wide open, as soon as I get there," she sniffed. "I love you," she whispered.  
  
Harry took one last fleeting glance at her fragile and beautiful body, and left.  
  
I love you too. 


End file.
